The Cardinals announced that catcher Ivan Herrera has been placed (retroactive to June 19) on the 10-day injured list due to lower back tightness. Backstop Nick Raposo will replace Herrera on the active roster after St. Louis selected Raposo’s minor league contract. To create a 40-man roster spot for Raposo, the Cardinals moved Keynan Middleton from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL — Middleton underwent flexor tendon surgery earlier this month and will miss the rest of the season.
With Willson Contreras already on the injured list, the Cardinals have had to dig deeper into the depth chart to replace both their starting catcher and now their top backup option in Herrera. The good news for the Cards is that Contreras might be back in action fairly soon, as he is already on a minor league rehab assignment after undergoing forearm surgery in early May. Contreras was behind the plate yesterday for Triple-A Memphis, and St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that Contreras is slated to catch again today, to gauge how well he holds up to catching in consecutive games. A DH day is scheduled for Contreras tomorrow, so Monday represents the absolute earliest that he could return to the active roster.
Herrera has capably held the fort with Contreras sidelined, as Herrera has hit .279/.340/.378 over 192 plate appearances for a 108 wRC+. While his Statcast numbers don’t stand out on the whole, Herrera’s .359 xwOBA is well above his .319 wOBA, even if that number is somewhat balanced out by a .346 BABIP. St. Louis had been trying to find playing time for both Herrera and (as a DH) Contreras even when both were healthy, though the team’s attempts to use both in the lineup will have to wait at least until Herrera recovers from his back problems.
Pedro Pages has been working as Herrera’s backup and will now likely get the majority of starts until one of the Cardinals top two catchers gets healthy. Backing up Pages is Raposo, who will be making his Major League debut the first time he appears in a game. Raposo began his pro career by signing with the Cardinals in 2020, and went undrafted due to the pandemic-shortened five-round nature of the 2020 draft.
From there, Raposo made a pretty quick rise through the St. Louis farm system, playing at Triple-A Memphis in each of the last two years. He has batted a modest .204/.274/.340 over 275 PA at the Triple-A level, but the Cardinals aren’t expecting much from Raposo’s bat over what might be a cup of coffee stint in the majors if Contreras is able to return this week.